It never ceases to amaze when manufacturers try to convince people that an issue with something they purchased is actually a “feature”. Apple has most recently tried to convince buyers of the iPhone 5 that the purple haze or ring around bright light sources is normal behavior.

An iPhone 5 owner named Matt Van Gastel had been speaking with Apple customer support about the purple flare problem with his iPhone 5. Gizmodo shows images highlighting the difference between photographs taken in the same setting using iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4. The purple haze around the sun is readily apparent in the iPhone 5 image, and the same purple discoloration shows up with any bright light source.

After going back and forth with Apple support, Van Gastel received an email back from Apple stating that their engineering team has found a solution to the problem. According to Apple, the solution is to "angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures."

The email also went on to say that the purple flare noted in images provided to customer service is "normal behavior for the iPhone 5s camera."

Gizmodo reports that some photography experts believe that the purple flare problem is caused by the sapphire glass that covers the iPhone 5 camera sensor.

Every lens will have lens flare, some more pronounced than others. The Canon 50mm 1.8 has it pretty bad but the example image shows the worst possible situation which in a real world scenario you would never take. No photographer ever would shoot directly into the sun WITH the sun at the very edge of the frame, you WILL get lens flare, as seen in both images. This lens flare is NEVER 'wanted', photographers do not want this 'effect'. The new lens in the iphone 5 does make this more pronounced but there are tradeoffs when designing lenses. Barrel distortion, coma, chromatic abberation, sharpness, contrast, micro contrast, color representation, ability to handle lens flare, etc.. all add up to a properly designed lens. People are jumping on the bandwagon for the wrong reason here... lens flare is meaningless from a design perspective if a lens can excel in other areas.

when designing a lens you have these to take into account:-distortion-coma-chromatic abberation-sharpness in corners, center (MTF)-contrast (MTF)-micro contrast-color representation-lens flare handling-bokeh-light falloff-focusing distance

If the lens was lacking in any of these areas the backlash would be the same. I see people in this thread bashing apple who don't even have a iPhone 5 to actually test out themselves.. merely using a single side x side image to let the hate flow.

"I see people in this thread bashing apple who don't even have a iPhone 5 to actually test out themselves.. merely using a single side x side image."

There were what, 5 million iPhones sold the first weekend? This issue wasnt invented by the non-iPhone buying crowd, it was reported by people with iPhone 5's, and I hate to break it to you, it IS an issue. Those pics came from iPhone 5's and its not all directly at the sun. Whatever though, you defend anything and everything Apple does so there isnt really much point debating is there?

google "iphone5 purple" and look at the images. It's not just one worst case scenario. It even happens in night shots with car lights or street lights. The problem is much worse than on any other smartphone or compact camera.

And what advantage did Apple get with this tradeoff? It's not f/2.0 like Nokia, nor does it have OIS. Oh, right. Apple wanted to have the thinnest smartphone, because the extra millimeter of other smartphones was a real headache...

The photo with the sun in the edge of the frame just shows the effect in an unmistakable way. The effect is called 'purple fringing' by photographers. Inferior lenses have more - good ones have almost none. The purple fringing occurs along the edge of any bright light source. That could be a candle in a dark room. In my 35 years of shooting photographs - including plenty involving flare from the sun, I have never seen so much purple fringing. If the camera is doing that, it is also layering a thick edge of purple to any light/dark contrasting edge in a photo. Might be the cheapest plastic possible (to get the device thinner, I am sure) in that camera.

If you have been shooting for 35 years you should be able to tell why this purple ghosting is occurring. The sapphire lens apple used is AR coated on BOTH sides and the internal Sony lens is also coated. These coatings are purple and the cause of these abberations are caused by internal reflections. If the sapphire lens was only coated on the outside and not the inside (or the Sony lens was not coated), this issue would not be occurring.

"So, I think the same thing of the music industry. They can't say that they're losing money, you know what I'm saying. They just probably don't have the same surplus that they had." -- Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA